Edgar Castillo found the back of the net for Tigres who thumped Atlante while Marco Vidal and Indios tasted defeat at home versus Jaguares.

Tigres 4 - 0 Atlante

US national team hopeful Edgar Castillo and Tigres slaughtered visiting Atalante at home in Estadio Universitario Saturday, in a game that saw Atalante coach Jose Guadalupe Cruz and two of his players receive red cards.

Castillo got the start at left midfield for Tigres and continued his quality play by adding the fourth and final goal for his team.

Having already been eliminated from playoff contention, Tigres was able to play pressure free soccer resulting in one of their best performances of the Apertura.

Just two minutes into the game Gaston Fernandez put the home team on the board thanks to an assist from Itamar Batista. The forward drew the defense to himself before laying the ball across for Fernandez who needed only to push the ball into the goal.

Fernandez struck again in the 36th minute via a penalty kick. Castillo beat Navarro on the wing and attempted a cross that ended up being handballed by the defense. Fernandez blasted the ball past a diving Federico Vilar for the 2-0 lead.

Shortly after, both Guillermo Rojas and Jose Guadalupe Cruz were sent off with red cards, making the already uphill climb almost insurmountable.

Luis David Vasquez was sent off early second half leaving Atlante down two men and without their head coach.

A few minutes after the Vasquez expulsion, Jose Antonio Castro put Tigres up 3-0 in the 68th minute when he blasted home a shot from the top of the box after receiving a pass from Lucas Lobos.

Castillo scored the fourth and final goal of the day on an excellent individual effore that saw the diminutive midfielder beat three defenders on the left before ripping a shot past Vilar.

Tigres and Castillo close out the Apertura on the road where they will face Paco Torres and Pachuca.

Indios 0 - 1 Jaguares

Marco Vidal and Indios dropped another home result at Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez on Saturday to Jaguares pushing the Juarez club to the brink of a winless season.

Vidal started at left midfielder and went the first 70 minutes before yielding his spot to Juan Ramon Curbelo.

The defeat for head coach Jose Trevino's squad edges them closer to relegation as the Indios have an abysmal percetange that makes up Mexico's complicated relegation formula.

As has been the case all season, Indios lacked punch up front and seemed resigned to their fate at the opening whistle. Adding to the fact that Jaguares has been one of the road teams in the Apertura, made for a long night for the home fans.

The game's lone goal came in the first half when Jaguares' Oribe Perlata headed in Oscar Francisco Razo's cross from the left side.

The Aborigenes never came close to equalizing as a handful of shots early in the second half posed no threat.

Indios take to the field next weekend againt Pumas in hopes of avoiding the embarassing situation of going winless on the season.

Toluca 3 - 0 Pachuca

Paco Torres and Pachuca had no answer for Toluca on the road at Estadio Nemesio Diez, as they were run out of the stadium in lopsided fashion.

Torres started and played the full 90 minutes at center midfield for the Tuzos, but was unable to do much against a strong Toluca team.

The Diablos were the better team from the start, but did not crack the scoresheet until the 45th minute when Hector Raul Mancilla received a pass near midfield and went on to beat two Pachuca defenders before putting the ball in the back of the net.

Just eight minutes into the second half Mancilla put Toluca up 2-0 when he tapped home an easy goal after a great set up from Antonio Naelson.

With the game already decided, Raul Nava stole the ball from Pachuca defender Leobardo Lopez and then scored to give the home team a 3-0 lead.

Already eliminated from playoff contention, Torres and Pachuca will look to leave a good taste in the mouths of their supporters when they return to Estadio Hidalgo next week against Edgar Castillo and Tigres.

Notes:

Michael Orozco did not take part in San Luis' 4-2 victory over visiting Santos.

From what I've read on a few other sites, Tigres need/want to finish strong to avoid relegation. As was mentioned above, the relegation formula is complicated and takes the past seasons into account. So even if they are likely clear this time around, it's in their interest to finish the season well and put themselves in a better position should they falter in the upcoming Clausura.

As far as Torres, it looks like mathematically Pachuca are not eliminated from playoff contention. They need a win and to make up like a 7 goal margin on Puebla...unless of course goal differential doesn't matter and Puebla advances just by virtue of their head to head result.

So anyway, what's really getting very old very fast is irrational comments from people that don't do a little investigating into why players aren't on the roster.

ICEMANofALFRED

Tuesday November 10, 2009 4:09 am

So I see that both Edgar Castillo's team, Tigres and Paco Torres's team, Pachuca have both been eliminated from playoff contention, so I just have to ask the obvious question... what the hell is keeping Bob Bradley from calling up the pair of them in for the two game series in Europe against Slovakia and Denmark!???

When we haven't got Landon Donovan to run the midfield, it seems to me that we not only should have Torres as part of the squad, but he is clearly needed to help run the midfield. And since when has our left side been settled, anyway... Castillo has commited to playing for the USA and these games seem a perfect time and place to try him out... so of course, he's not even called in!???

To say I'm not pleased about this turn of events is a major understatement... I'm really not pleased by so much of what Bunker Bob has done and now this as well... it's time for him to take a new possision with a MLS team and for the USSF/US Soccer to hire someone who realizes that qualifying for the World Cup is just the start not the end of our coaches responsability... this idiot is going to get us there and then it's back to not quite being ready to do enough to get through to the knock out rounds... this crap is getting very old very fast!

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